''Fear Street'' is a
teenage
Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...
horror fiction series written by American author
R. L. Stine
Robert Lawrence Stine (; born October 8, 1943), sometimes known as Jovial Bob Stine and Eric Affabee, is an American novelist, short story writer, television producer, screenwriter, and executive editor.
Stine has been referred to as the "St ...
, starting in 1989. In 1995, a series of books inspired by the ''Fear Street'' series, called ''
Ghosts of Fear Street'', was created for younger readers, and were more like the ''
Goosebumps
''Goosebumps'' is a series of children's horror fiction novels by American author R. L. Stine, published by Scholastic Publishing. The protagonists in these stories are tweens or young teens who find themselves in scary circumstances usually i ...
'' books in that they featured paranormal adversaries (monsters, aliens, etc.) and sometimes had
twist ending
Twist may refer to:
In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage
* ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist''
* ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...
s.
R. L. Stine stopped writing ''Fear Street'' after penning the ''Fear Street Seniors''
spin-off in 1999. In
summer
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...
2005, he brought ''Fear Street'' back with the three-part ''Fear Street Nights'' miniseries.
, over 80 million copies of ''Fear Street'' have been sold.
[Luisa Gerasimo e.a. in ''The Teacher's Calendar of Famous Birthdays''](_blank)
page 8, on R. L. Stine: "That year he also created ''Fear Street'', the first horror series for teenagers, which sold 80 million copies." (2003)
R. L. Stine revived the book series in October 2014.
In July 2021,
a trilogy of films based on the franchise was released weekly on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
.
Plot summary
The ''Fear Street'' books take place in the fictionalized town of Shadyside and feature average teenagers older than the typical ''
Goosebumps
''Goosebumps'' is a series of children's horror fiction novels by American author R. L. Stine, published by Scholastic Publishing. The protagonists in these stories are tweens or young teens who find themselves in scary circumstances usually i ...
'' preteens, who encounter malignant, sometimes paranormal, adversaries. While some of the ''Fear Street'' novels have paranormal elements, such as
ghosts
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
, others are simply murder
mysteries. Whereas the ''Goosebumps'' books have a few tamed deaths, the deaths presented in ''Fear Street'', particularly the sagas, are far more gruesome, with more blood and gore.
The title of the series comes from the name of a fictional street in Shadyside, which was named after the Fear family. Their name was originally spelled as Fier; after being told that the family was cursed and that the letters could be rearranged to spell "fire", Simon Fier changed it to Fear in the 19th century. Despite the family renaming, the curse survived, and Simon and his wife, Angelica, brought it with them when they moved to Shadyside sometime after the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
.
The curse started in
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
(17th-century) times when Benjamin and Matthew Fier sentenced an innocent girl and her mother, Susannah and Martha Goode, to be burned at the stake for allegedly practicing
witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
. The father and husband, William Goode, put the curse on the Fiers to avenge their deaths, bringing misery and death to the family. Although a fire allegedly burned the last of the Fears, the series features some surviving Fears and suggests that one of the brothers survived. These events are described in the Fear Street Sagas, a spinoff of the main series.
Similar to the ''Goosebumps'' series, the characters change in each book, although some characters still live on and are mentioned (or show up) multiple times. Some of the previously-released novels' plots are also mentioned in later books, and some characters appear in multiple stories (for instance, Cory Brooks, hero of ''The New Girl'', is mentioned and shows up several times during the later novels). The plot for the books occurs between the late 1980s and early 1990s, although multiple novels occur within the same chronological year.
Setting
The ''Fear Street'' series takes place in a town called Shadyside. Much of the paranormal activity, the murders and other unexplained happenings occur either directly on Fear Street, in the woods surrounding the street or on Fear Island which sits in the middle of Fear Lake. Contextual clues in the text suggest Shadyside is either in southern
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
or a northern
Mid-Atlantic state of the US. For example, in book #3, ''The Overnight'', a character mentions that he goes to BU "up in Boston", suggesting Shadyside is somewhere near Boston, but south of it.
According to descriptions in book #1, ''The New Girl'', the Canononka River runs behind Shadyside Park, which sits behind Shadyside High School. Between the school and the park, multiple books mention a parking lot, alternately referred to as the teacher's lot and the student lot. From here, you can see a practice field and tennis courts. In book #4, ''Missing'', it is mentioned that the Canononka River marks the edge of town, suggesting that the river makes up some portion of Shadyside's city limit.
The Fear Street woods are situated between Fear Street and the rest of town, although some books suggest the woods are located at the end of the street. If you were to walk from Fear Street, straight through the woods, you would end up in another Shadyside neighborhood; people's backyards meet the woods in this neighborhood. However, it is very difficult to maintain a straight path, since the woods are so full of undergrowth. Also of note: ''“There are no birds in the Fear Street woods. Scientists from all over the country haven’t been able to find out why.”''
Division Street cuts Shadyside into North and South halves; on this street sits the local mall. Division Street crosses Old Mill Road, which then crosses Fear Street, which is in the southern half of town. From this description, it seems reasonable to assume that Fear Street runs at least somewhat parallel to Division Street. The eponymous street is described as winding, with no clear view from end to end. Somewhere on this street sits the burned out shell of Fear Mansion. According to book #5, ''The Wrong Number'', there is a cemetery near the East end of Fear Street, which is also bordered by the Fear Street woods.
At some point in the timeline, between book #1, ''The New Girl'' and book #3, ''The Overnight'', the "...ancient collapsing mill built at the end of Old Mill Road before the town of Shadyside even existed, had recently been resurrected and re-opened as a teen dance club called The Mill." Old Mill Road crosses Hawthorne Drive, where you can find a small coffee shop called Alma's; this is the haunt of many local college kids.
There is a neighborhood called North Hills, which is distinctly different from the rest of Shadyside; it has large houses and well tended lawns. It is described as "...a quiet, peaceful neighborhood, the nicest neighborhood in Shadyside." Multiple books mention a neighborhood called the Old Village and it seems to be Shadyside's downtown/old town, with multiple businesses.
Waynesbridge is a town about a 20 minute drive from Shadyside. Between the two towns, there is a business park where a company called Cranford Industries makes its home.
Release
The first ''Fear Street'' book, ''
The New Girl'' was published in 1989. Various spin-off series were written, including the ''
Fear Street Sagas
This is a list of books from the ''Fear Street'' book series created and written by R. L. Stine. The first book, '' The New Girl'' was published in 1989. Various spin-off series were written, including the ''Fear Street Sagas'' and ''Ghosts of F ...
'' and ''
Ghosts of Fear Street''. , more than 80 million ''Fear Street'' books have been sold.
Individual books appeared in many
bestseller
A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...
lists, including the ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
''
and ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
'' bestseller list.
[Collins; Latham (1993), 146.]
After a hiatus, R. L. Stine revived the book series in October 2014.
Stine had attempted to write a new ''Fear Street'' novel for years, but publishers were not interested. Some publishers thought that young adult literature has changed since ''Fear Street'' was first published, since the new world of young adult literature is dominated by
dystopia
A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
n worlds and
paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...
elements.
After Stine told his followers on Twitter that there were no publishers interested in reviving ''Fear Street'', Kat Brzozowski, an editor at
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...
, contacted him. Initially, the publisher bought three new books,
but it was later announced that six new books would be published in the series.
''Party Games'', the first book, was first published on September 30, 2014, in hardcover.
The novel is Stine's first ''Fear Street'' novel since the last book in the ''Fear Street Nights'' series was published in 2005.
The novel was followed by ''Don't Stay Up Late'', which was published in April 2015. Stine stated the new books are longer, more adult and more violent, to reflect how young adult literature has changed since ''Fear Street'' was first published.
Adaptations
Television
At some point before October 1997,
Viacom Productions
Viacom Productions (formerly Viacom Enterprises) was a television production company, production arm of Paramount Global Distribution Group#Paramount International, Viacom International. The division was active from 1974 until 2004, when the comp ...
had inked a development deal with
Parachute Entertainment to produce a primetime TV series based on the ''Fear Street'' books.
Soon after Disney-owned ABC bought a ''Fear Street'' pilot. The
pilot episode
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
for the unproduced ''Fear Street'' television series, titled ''Ghosts of Fear Street'', aired on
ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to:
*ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or
*ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia
ABC Television or ABC ...
on July 31, 1998. The pilot's airing held 89% of its men 18-34 lead-in but just 55% of its women 18-34 lead-in. The result was ABC's worst rating on record in that slot and a third-place finish for the night in homes and adults 18-49.
Film
On October 30, 1997, ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' reported
Hollywood Pictures
Hollywood Pictures was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established on February 1, 1989, by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner and then-studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood ...
struck a deal to acquire the ''Fear Street'' series of books, which were set to be developed with Parachute Entertainment as a
''Scream''-like feature franchise.
On October 9, 2015, ''
TheWrap
''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman
Sharon I. Waxman (born c.1963) is an American author, journalist, ...
'' reported a film based on the series was again being developed, by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
and
Chernin Entertainment
Chernin Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded and owned by former News Corporation president and chief operating officer Peter Chernin, also CEO and chairman of the company. Jenno Topping is the current Head o ...
. On February 13, 2017, The Tracking Board reported that
Kyle Killen
Kyle Killen is an American television writer and producer. He is best known as the creator and showrunner of the critically acclaimed but short-lived television series '' Lone Star'' (2010), ''Awake'' (2012) and ''Mind Games'' (2014). He also wr ...
would write the script for the film. On July 13, 2017, ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' reported that Leigh Janiak would oversee the development of the scripts as a trilogy, and direct the first film. On February 27, 2019, it was announced that Kiana Madeira and Olivia Welch would star as the lead characters in the trilogy. On March 12, 2019, ''
Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...
'' reported that
Benjamin Flores, Jr. would play Josh, while
Ashley Zukerman
Ashley Zukerman (born 30 December 1983) is an Australian-American actor known for playing Dr. Charlie Isaacs on WGN America's ''Manhattan'', Senior Constable Michael Sandrelli in Australian drama series ''Rush'', and Jesse Banks in the Australia ...
,
Fred Hechinger
Fred Hechinger (born ) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Trevor in the coming-of-age film ''Eighth Grade'', John Calley in the Western drama ''News of the World'', and Ethan Russell in the psychological thriller '' The Woman in ...
, Julia Rehwald and Jeremy Ford joined the cast on March 27.
On April 1, 2019,
Gillian Jacobs
Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as Britta Perry on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015) and Mickey Dobbs on the Netflix romantic comedy series ''Love'' (2016 ...
,
Sadie Sink
Sadie Elizabeth Sink (born April 16, 2002) is an American actress. She began acting at age seven in local theater productions, and played the title role in '' Annie'' (2012–14) and young Queen Elizabeth II in '' The Audience'' (2015) on Broad ...
,
Emily Rudd
Emily Ellen Rudd (born February 24, 1993) is an American actress. She played Cindy Berman in the Netflix horror film trilogy ''Fear Street''.
Career
In 2018, appeared in the Amazon anthology series '' The Romanoffs''. and '' Philip K. Dick's E ...
and McCabe Slye were cast in the second film.
On March 13, 2019, filming for the first film began in
East Point, Georgia
East Point is a suburban city located southwest of Atlanta in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,358. The city name ...
. Janiak directed all three films in the series, after originally being set to direct the first and third films.
Alex Ross Perry
Alex Ross Perry (born July 14, 1984) is an American filmmaker and actor.
Early life
Perry was born to a Jewish family in 1984 and raised in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where he worked on a local television news program during high school.Renninger, ...
was previously set to direct the second film. Phil Graziadei and Janiak received screenplay credit, and with a "story by" co-credit shared by Killen, Graziadei, and Janiak.
While the trilogy had finished filming in September 2019, the series was placed in an uncertain status with the early termination of the Chernin Entertainment and 20th Century Fox production deal. On April 7, 2020, it was announced that Chernin Entertainment ended their distribution deal with 20th Century Studios, and made a multi-year first-look deal with
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
. On August 11, 2020, it was reported that Netflix had acquired the trilogy for a planned mid-2021 release date with the original release strategy of one film per month. On May 19, 2021, Netflix announced the films to be released over three weeks, with ''
Fear Street Part One: 1994'' on July 2, ''
Fear Street Part Two: 1978'' on July 9, and ''
Fear Street Part Three: 1666'' on July 16.
References
External links
Booklists at R. L. Stine's Official Site
{{R. L. Stine
Book series introduced in 1989
Novel sequences
Young adult novel series
American young adult novels
American horror novels
Works by R. L. Stine